Arnold a derby racer by profession owned a stable of well-bred horses. Jony was a washerman and neighbor of Arnold. Arnold used to appoint him as a caretaker of his stable in his absence as he lived alone and had no one to take care of his horses when he was away. He would pay Jony a decent amount for his services. Jony used to happily accept the offer.
But Jony had more interest than the money that he made - no it was not philanthropy either. Whenever Arnold was gone without his knowledge Jony used the horses from Arnold's stable for transporting clothes to his customers. Jony had donkeys for this purpose but by using Arnold's horses he could do more 'rounds' as the horse was faster and earn some extra bucks. This time however Arnold returned earlier than scheduled and caught Jony red-handed.
'Sorry Sir, actually my donkeys were not well and I had pending work so I took a little liberty...' blurted Jony, but before he could finish Arnold said - 'I have a derby race tomorrow. I was saving my horse for the big day. You have exhausted him and he cannot run now. You have messed-up you idiot!'
Jony kept apologizing but Arnold had lost his trust on him.
Keep the ethical issue aside for a moment, do you think what Jony did was right?
Problem with Jony is that he maps work and animals available. On the contrary Arnold knows where donkeys should be used and where to use horses.
Without being condescending to the donkey in any manner it cannot run a derby race. At the same time using a horse for transporting clothes is not only a gross under-utilization of his talent but also amounts to exhausting him with meaningless work; thereby tiring him out and preventing him from what he is actually capable of doing or achieving. Problem starts when managers and organizations start thinking and behaving like Jony.
Old Jony is penny wise and pound foolish!
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